Trials and Tribulations
by Kretari - daughter of Hermes
Summary: Leo, Jason, and Piper have a falling out. Leo returns to Hephaestus cabin upset due to some of what was said. Jake notices and takes matters into his own hands.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, maybe I should stop thinking of story ideas. That could work wonders for both my grades and my sanity when it comes to my stories. I still have to update Musical Stories and Courage to Stand. Not to mention get started on Eternal Changes..well, after I finish getting character submissions. I think I'm going to ask my friends at school to fill the submission form thing out. But if you want to submit a character, then PM me with your character. You can submit more than one, as well.**

**Anyway, I got this idea while listening to music on my way home from school today and it seemed like a decent idea. I was if-y about the pairing, but it's new and it's..well, it's something that caught my interest after finally finishing the Lost Hero. Yes, I'm aware that I'm behind, I haven't been able to get books too quickly recently and I only recently started reading it. That's beside the point. **

**I think it fair to warn you that this might be really OOC, but that is because I don't know the characters well enough and I seriously am running on maybe two hours sleep and an overstressed brain. Pardon that if it happens.**

**I've rambled long enough. Hope you like it. I'll probably turn it into another multi-chapter thing. **

This was quite possibly the worst day Leo'd had since he'd come back to Camp Half-Blood. It really did bite.

The words that he'd exchanged with Jason and Piper kept echoing in his mind. He didn't get it. He didn't _want_ to get it, actually. It was safer that he didn't. He was upset enough without understanding what had happened to cause it.

_Worthless._ While the word hadn't been said, that's what Leo read out of what they'd said. He couldn't do anything right. He wasn't wanted. He wasn't needed. He didn't matter.

He didn't head to Bunker Nine like he normally did. He'd been working with others on building the _Argo II_ for a good three weeks now. Instead, he headed straight to Hephaestus cabin._ Forget lessons, forget working on the stupid ship_, he thought. He just needed a bit to think without distractions.

He didn't notice the tears that came with the echo of cutting words. He didn't notice that he could hardly see where he was going. He knew the path by heart by now. He'd walked it plenty of times before.

The moment he walked into Hephaestus cabin, however, Jake stopped him. Leo had his head tilted down and his hands, which normally had scrap pieces of metal in them building some sort of gadget, were empty and still.

"Whoa, Leo, something the matter?"

Leo didn't look up. "No,"he said, his voice a bit deadpan. But it didn't sound like he was crying. He'd mastered hiding evidence of his tears from his voice the year after his second foster home after his mother's death. He brushed past Jake and sat down on his bunk, his head still down.

Jake frowned. It was odd to see the hyperactive boy so sullen. He was normally grinning and cracking jokes and moving around constantly. But now..now he was just..lifeless. It was like he'd died.

It didn't take long for him to really know something was wrong. He saw a tear drop from Leo's face and shook his head, forgetting about leaving and moving to sit next to Leo. "What's up?"he asked, nudging Leo gently.

Leo didn't answer. It bothered Jake for Leo to be so quiet. It wasn't like him.

When Jake didn't get an answer after a couple minutes, he sighed. "Who's upset you?"he asked, trying a different approach.

But he still got no answer from Leo.

Jake's eyes narrowed. "Was it Jason and Piper?"he asked.

Well,_ that_ got a response. Just not a good one. Instead of Leo verbally answering, his frame shook in a supressed sob.

A sigh was what Jake gave, wrapping his arms around Leo, hoping to let him know that he wasn't alone. Gods knew that Leo'd been on his own for too long. Emotionally. Physically, not so much. But he'd been emotionally alone since his mother's death. They all knew that much. They knew Leo's humor was his way of coping with things.

Leo leaned against him. While he hadn't expected anyone to notice his pain, he was glad that someone was trying to help him. It was a nice change from what he'd grown used to.

Neither of the boys went to their afternoon lessons. When they showed up at dinner, late, they got a few concerned looks. Considering that Leo was still sullen, the concerned looks doubled when they sat down with the others at Hephaestus's table.

Leo could feel eyes on the back of his neck. He knew Jason and Piper were both watching him from their respective tables. He didn't turn and wave at them like he normally did if he got into dinner late.

Nyssa frowned at Leo's behaviour. "Did you guys have a falling out?"she asked.

Leo glanced up at her and shrugged. "You could say that,"he offered.

Everyone got the hint that he didn't want to talk about it and changed the topic to how the _Argo II_ was coming along so far.

Leo listened and offered input on certain things, but everyone could tell that his fire was literally gone for now.

Halfway through dinner, though, Jason made everyone at the table fall silent by moving to stand behind Leo. He tapped the fire child on the shoulder, making him turn. "Listen, Leo -"

"No."Leo said. "No, you listen. I don't want to hear that you're sorry right now."

Jason frowned. "Well, I am."he said.

Leo shrugged and turned back to his food.

Jake was frowning at Jason when he didn't leave.

"I don't think he wants you over here, Grace."he commented.

Jason looked at Jake for a long moment before he turned and headed back to his own table. Leo gave Jake a thankful smile, but said nothing. In fact, he once again had metal bits and pieces out, working with them to create something. His nervous energy was coming back, Jake knew. Soon, they'd have the old Leo back and things would go a bit smoother. They just had to get to that point from here.

**AN: So do you guys hate me for this? Do you think I should continue and make it a multi-chapter thing? Or is it better as a one-shot?**

**Again, sorry if it's OOC, I'm working with it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So, it didn't totally bite! Great! At least I know that I don't suck at writing for this fandom. Not like I figured I would anyways. **

**So, I guess I'll continue this. I'm going to try to keep the ends of the chapters to where I could end it at any point if I lose my inspiration and it not be like this huge cliff hanger or something, but I make no promises. At this point, I figure, it's a good thing to focus some energy on that way my teachers don't yell at me for being hyperactive. **

**Again, sorry if the characters are OOC. I'm working on it.**

Jake had thought things were going to be okay after dinner. Instead, he found himself waking up at two in the morning to Leo's constant shifting. Everyone else was still asleep, not having heard the fire handler's rustling. They were pretty sound sleepers, actually. Sighing, Jake pushed himself out of his bunk and moved to sit beside Leo on his. This made Leo look up at him, carmel brown eyes staring at him in confusion.

Jake half smiled. "I can hear you shifting every half a second,"he whispered softly. "Something the matter?"

Leo gave a fake smile and shrugged. "Memories,"he answered quietly.

"Alright, budge up. I'm not leaving until you're actually asleep,"Jake murmured.

Leo shifted back in his bunk and let Jake lay beside him.

Leo was glad to know that he had someone who cared for him around like this.

Jake spoke quietly, trying to give Leo something to do besides get lost in his head. "You think you'll feel up to actually going to lessons tomorrow? Because I doubt it'll end well if you miss a lot of lessons here."he said quietly.

Leo shrugged. "I might. I don't know. Depends on how I'm feeling in the morning,"

A moment's silence passed between the two before Leo curled up, resting his forehead against the side of Jake's shoulder, taking in the comfort that came with his presense. "Thanks for earlier, by the way."he murmured.

Jake chuckled almost silently. "Don't worry about it,"he answered.

While he might not be the best about expressing feelings to people, he found it easy to do so around Leo. Everyone found it easy to be themselves around Leo. It was just a natural effect on people.

The thing about it was that Leo had no clue about the effect he had on people. He just knew that people seemed to be more relaxed around him. Even Nico di'Angelo, who he'd met in passing, didn't seem as tense when speaking with Leo.

Another bit of silence before Jake spoke. "Can I ask what they did?"he asked.

"Some words were exchanged,"Leo answered. "I guess it was my mistake for letting them know my past,"

Jake frowned. _That_ would get Piper and Jason hurt if they didn't watch it. Leo'd been nothing but a helping hand to the two of them and then they throw his trust back in his face? _I don't think so,_ Jake thought. He wasn't going to watch this happen.

"Yeah? Well, we're going to get that fixed, I promise."Jake told him. "And forget the past. You're here now and nothing's going to hurt you if I can help it."

Leo chuckled, making Jake smile. It was a nice sound to hear. "You're always so protective."he mumbled.

It didn't take five minutes after that for Leo to fall asleep. But Jake didn't move, not wanting to risk waking him. He just stayed put, thinking about what he was going to do about Jason and Piper until he himself fell asleep.

He awoke the next morning to Nyssa's soft shaking and words. "Alright, sleepy heads. Get up."she said. "We've got work to do today!"

Leo grumbled, burying himself further in his covers like he didn't want to move.

Jake raised an eyebrow and sat up. He poked at Leo's side softly. "Get up,"he said quietly, letting Nyssa know he was up and would manage to get Leo up and moving so she could go ahead with everyone else.

It didn't take much to get Leo up and get him to get ready for the day while Jake did the same. All it really took was the word food. Jake had almost laughed and the way Leo stumbled out of the bed, getting his foot caught on the covers.

The two entered the dining pavallion together, talking softly about things.

This time, when Jason approached them before they got to Hephaestus table, Jake headed Jason off. "Don't start this morning, Grace. You've done enough damage for a while."he said.

Leo looked at Jake, wide eyed. "No, it's okay, Jake."he said softly. "It's fine,"

Jake looked to Leo for a moment, wanting to argue that no, it definitely wasn't alright that the son of Zeus had thrown Leo's past into his face like that, but he held his tounge. "Fine,"he agreed. "But come find me if you need to talk,"

Leo agreed and Jake hesitantly left to go to Hephaestus's table.

Jason looked at Leo silently for a moment before he spoke. "Leo, I'm really sorry,"he said.

Leo's eyes snapped back to Jason. He frowned deeply. "Why should you be? You only told me what I knew."he replied. "You and Piper both."

"I just..it was harsh and uncalled for."Jason said.

Leo shrugged it off and moved to take his seat before he yelled at Jason for being so hard headed and stubborn. He didn't want to talk to him. Especially not about that. He just wanted to forget that Jason and Piper exsisted and move on with his life. It was weird, saying he wanted to forget his old best friends. He wasn't even sure he could call them his best friends anymore.

_"Gods, Leo, you should've stayed out of the way. I didn't need your help,"_ Jason's voice sounded in his mind. That's what had started the argument. Jason saying he hadn't needed Leo's help. During battle training, Jason had challenged Nico. It was the first time that Leo had ever met the dude. It just all escaladed from there. And somehow, Leo was the one that got left feeling worthless and like he'd never be good enough to do anything.

Jake seemed to notice that Leo's thoughts were going down a dangerous path due to the way that he stilled in his seat, because he spoke. "Hey, uh-uh, pull yourself out of your thoughts, Valdez."he said, trying to get Leo to seriously snap out of it before there was any damage done. He could see steam rising from the fire handler's hair like it did when he was embarrassed or upset about something that mattered to him more than an invention.

Leo nodded and let the thoughts die as much at they could before he offered Jake a faint smile and continued on with what he was doing.

It was a very large step back from yesterday at dinner, Jake saw. This wasn't going to go over as easily as it should have. Unfortunately.

**AN: And another short chapter done before bed. But I have tests tomorrow, I gotta get some rest. Should I go on with this? Or should it end here? I don't know. I can't plan things ahead like a normal person.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Man, it's been a while since I updated. Sorry guys. I kind of lost inspiration for this. Then...yesterday, I finally got around to finishing Mark of Athena. My feels have died. Horribly. So, I'm back! For how long? I don't know. **

**Once again, I apologize for the long absence of updates, and thanks to you guys for being so patient and supportive of this story.**

**Enjoy.**

The day didn't shape up like they'd figured it would. After breakfast, Leo disappeared, only showing up, covered in grease, at lunch.

After that, nobody saw him the rest of the day. Jake had a feeling he knew where he was and decided to double back to Bunker 9 to check before dinner.

He paused at the open door to the bunker and watched Leo work for a moment. Leo was scrambling around the room for parts, glancing at the blueprints every so often. After watching this for a while, Jake cleared his throat, making Leo jump out of his skin.

"Time for dinner. Get washed up."Jake said.

Leo put down the pieces he held and disappeared to wash his hands, meeting up with Jake outside of Bunker 9 not long after. They walked in near silence to the Mess Hall for dinner.

Jake broke the silence this time as well. "Any progress on the ship?"

Leo nodded. "A bit."he said. "It's amazing what a lot of nervous energy and free time can do."

Jake nodded in agreement. "I get the feeling you're trying to avoid everyone, though."  
"Maybe a little."Leo said. "I've just..I'm better with machines than people."

Jake examined Leo before he sighed. "Listen, Leo. I know you don't want to talk about it, but we need to know what happened between you and Jason and Piper. All of us want to help, but we can't if you don't _talk_ to us. We're family, we won't make fun of you."

_Family._ The word echoed in Leo's mind. His eyes went down to the ground and his pace slowed down.

Jake noticed this and nodded. "Alright. After dinner, the two of us are going to go to the beach and we're going to talk, alone."he said. "Because there's something more going on, and I want to know."

Leo nodded in understanding.

As such, Jake told Nyssa what he was going to do, and she nodded, promising to keep an eye on the others while he was gone.

After that, Jake led Leo out to the dock on the beach. He watched as Leo dangled his feet into the water in silence before he spoke. "What did they say to you?"

Leo shrugged. "It's nothing, Jake."

"It's not nothing. You were crying over whatever happened just two days ago. It's hurting you, and you need to let someone know. Me, or one of the other Hephaestus kids, or Nico, or someone. But don't keep it to yourself."

Leo nodded in understanding. "I will. But..listen, Nico knows what happened, I'd feel better talking with him about it. I won't have to explain that way."

Jake examined Leo carefully before he got up. "I'll be right back. Don't move."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Where would I go?"he grumbled. "I finally found a home here, I'm not going to run away."

Jake's eyes dimmed a bit before they lit up with a new fire. He disappeared, going to fetch Nico before returning. "...he just won't explain to me, so..please?"

Leo looked back to see Nico walking with Jake, a scowl present on his face.

Jake met his eyes and gave a faint smile.

Nico plopped down beside Leo, and Jake sat down a bit away, allowing them to talk, but still offering a comforting presence.

Leo shook his head in bemusement. He should've known that Jake would do this. _Overprotective brothers..._Leo thought, fightng the urge to roll his eyes.

Nico spoke. "So, Grace and you still haven't made up, huh?"

Leo shook his head. "No. We haven't. And we won't, as far as I'm concerned."  
That bitterness surprised both Nico and Jake. Jake had never heard Leo sound bitter before. But he certainly did now.

"Man, he must of pissed you off."Nico commented, slightly amused. That went away after that point. "What they said hit a nerve, huh?"

Leo nodded.

Jake watched this. He hoped Nico knew what he was doing.

But the child of Hades didn't speak again for a while. "Why do you care what they think of you? You picked up humor as an escape, right? Why not use that and be happy? Make them feel bad."

Leo looked over at Nico for a moment beofre he nodded. "I suppose..."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Good. Now, do me a favor, Valdez."  
Leo waited for him to finish.

"Stop letting them control you. You've got work to do, and you need to be yourself again. As weird as it is being near someone who is always so happy, sad doesn't fit you."Nico said before getting up and disappearing to his cabin.

Jake met Leo's eyes. "You okay now?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I suppose so."

Still, the following morning, Leo was back to acting like he normally did. Nico managed a faint smile at this from his seat at his table. Jason and Piper seemed to realize that he didn't want them to talk to him, because they left him be.

"_You'll always be that scared little runaway child, Leo. I don't need your help."_ Those words sometimes hit Leo when he wasn't doing something. But he only shifted slightly and went back to what he had been doing.

He'd gotten better about ignoring those little reminders.

Jake smiled at the scene as he watched Leo interact with the other Hephaestus kids, talking with them about the _Argo II_ and chatting absently about things. It was better than he had been the last two days.

**Here. **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks guys, for not losing **_**too **_**much faith in me updating this story. I'm bidding my time until the Sea of Monsters movie comes out in August, then House of Hades in October. Such a long wait...oh well. I have books I can read until then. Then this and like two, three other stories to work on.**

**Anyways, enjoy.**

Leo still avoided most people. If he wasn't with Nico or one of the other Hephaestus kids, he was alone, working on something for the _Argo II_, which was coming along nicely. Annabeth popped in and out a lot, helping Leo in silence with the ship. But nobody mentioned Jason or Piper. Jake worried about what would happen when Leo was on the quest with them after the ship was done. Sure, there would be others, but Leo would also have no escape from the two.

When Leo drug himself into Hephaestus cabin late one night after working on the ship, Jake looked up from a small blueprint that he'd found laying around on the floor to see what was going on. Leo dropped his toolbelt off on his bed and collapsed onto the mattress in silence.

Jake could tell he was exhaused, but with how the teen's nights had been, he knew Leo wouldn't get much sleep that night either. He climbed off his own bunk and sat down beside Leo.

Leo glanced at him, looking completely beaten, but he grinned and sat up, glancing at the blueprint. "Whatcha got?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Nothing that you should worry about."he said. "In fact, the thing you should worry about is getting some sleep that isn't plagued by nightmares."

Leo's grin dimmed and he collapsed back again. "Wouldn't that be nice?"he grumbled.

"What's going on with you, Leo?"Jake asked. "Seriously. If there's something that's bothering you, you need to tell us."

Leo shook his head. "It's nothing."he said, his voice much softer now than it normally was. Normally, it was excited, like Leo always was.

Jake examined Leo for a long moment before he spoke. "Is what Grace said still bothering you?"  
Leo met Jake's eyes before he spoke. "Kind of."he said. "..it's more the memories it drags up."

Nyssa heard this and glanced over, watching the two in silence before she ushered the others out so they could have a bit of privacy.

Jake gave her a kind smile and then turned his attention back to Leo, who had a flame conjured on one of his fingers. He smiled faintly and shook his head. "Alright, what's going on?"

Leo looked up from the flame and met Jake's eyes again before returning his focus to the flame. "Do you think it's possible that my mom's death was my fault?"  
Jake seemed a bit surprised, but he shook his head. "No."he said. "Absolutely not. And don't listen to anyone who tells you or implies otherwise. They're idiots."

Leo let the fire go out and met Jake's eyes steadily before he shook his head. "Nobody's told me that or anything..it's just..it feels like it was my fault."

"And that's why you took it so bad, the falling out with Jason and Piper."

Leo's nod made Jake stop to think something through. "Well, it's not."

That night was one of the quietest in Hephaestus cabin. For the first time in what seemed like months to Jake, Leo slept calmly. No nightmares. He knew it wasn't much, but it was a good start.

The following morning was an early start. Leo was one of the first ones up, and managed to trip over something while trying to navigate the cluttered area around his bunk without a light.

Jake chuckled, pushing himself up. He knew he was up for the day then.

He got off his bunk, helping Leo up and grabbing a flashlight from the ground, cutting it on so he could check the younger teen for any injuries. A few scrapes had been gained from the fall, but other than that, he was okay.

"Sorry for waking you."Leo whispered.

Jake shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I would've been woken soon anyways."

Leo fell silent after that.

Breakfast was a quiet ordeal for them. Leo cracked jokes and acted like a goof, but that was normal. Jake was just glad to have his brother back to normal. It was weird, seeing him sullen, so the fact that he was back to his normal self was good. Extremely good.

Nico moved after he finished to sit next to Leo.

Leo glanced over, blinking at him in surprise before he smiled. "Hey!"he greeted.

Nico rolled his eyes. "You're back to your normal, peppy self, I see."he commented. "Listen, Annabeth asked me to help you out today. There's just some thing that she can't do as a child of Athena that could help out."

"For some reason, that doesn't sound as nice as I'd like."Jake commented.

Nico looked up at Jake. "It's safe. That's all I promise."  
"Joy. I'll be sure to let the Apollo kids know to be on the lookout for Leo today. Anything you say is safe is sure to get him killed."Jake commented. "He's like that, no matter _who_ says it's safe."

"_Hey!"_Leo said, indigent. "That's not true!"  
Jake gave him a look. "That was once."

But still, after that, the subject dropped. Leo grumbled something about overprotective siblings ruining his life, but they all knew it was in good nature. Nobody took offense to it. It was only because they cared after all.

**Here ya go.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Here guys. It's about one in the morning for me right now, but I had to update this before bed, because tomorrow, I'm getting started on the chapter updates for Strength and Survival and Those Nights Kept Me Alive, because I've been neglecting updating those for the past couple of days so I could work on this and stuff..**

**Enjoy.**

Jake could tell that Leo hated that he worried so much for him. But with how he acted sometimes, someone had to worry about him.

Leo had always been the one who was cracking jokes and trying to make people feel better. But Jake knew that kind of person. They tried to help others even though they tortured themselves. He worried for this reason. He knew so little about his younger sibling. All he really knew was that he was a fire-handler, his mother died in a fire when he was young, and that he felt that her death was his fault. That's where his knowledge of his brother ended. Even Nico knew more about Leo than Jake did. And it was bothering him.

So, when Leo doubled back at lunch, laughing about something while Nico rolled his eyes at it, he spoke softly. "Boys, can I interupt your work on the _Argo II_ today for just a little while?"

Nico nodded. "There's something I need to do, anyways. Think an hour will work?"

Jake nodded in agreement. "Alright. Once lunch is over, the hour begins."

Leo really didn't seem to like this idea, but he didn't argue.

Lunch was a quiet affair for everyone.

Afterwards, Jake led Leo on a walk around the camp so they could talk.

"Alright, listen, Leo..."Jake started.  
Leo _really_ hated that he started like that. It never ended well when people did that.

Jake didn't look over at Leo. He kept his gaze trained on the area in front of them as they walked. "I know that you probably won't feel up to talking about it..but I need to know. I know you're mom passed..but, what happened to you after that?"

Leo sighed. He should've known this was coming. "Jake..it's..."

Jake gave him a look.

"Foster homes."

"Whoa. Homes. More than one. What happened there?"Jake said.

Leo hesitated before he spoke. "I ran away..every time."

"Oh..joy. These stories are always nice."Jake mumbled. "Something happen to make you want to run away."

Leo was quiet for a while before he spoke. "Jake..would you believe me if I told you that my sense of humour came from those foster homes..as a way to help me cope?"he asked. "Like...a defense mechanism?"

Jake looked over at Leo then and nodded. "I can believe that."he said. "It's understandable. It's just...were the families abusive or neglent or something?"  
Leo didn't respond, but it gave Jake his answer. "Damn, Leo..you've got a bit more baggage in your past than I expected."he said. "Not really a bad thing, but...well, with a demigod, it's unavoidable to have a bad past of some sort. I just wish things had been easier on ya, kid."  
Leo shook his head. "Don't... I'm glad. If anything, it taught me to be myself, and it's gotten me this far..still alive. Hardly, but still."

Jake let out a soft laugh. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it."

Silence fell between the brothers for a while after that.

Neither of them seemed keen on breaking it. It was comforting, their silence. It wasn't tense at all, which, considering what had just been revealed, was just a bit shy of a miracle.

After a long while, Jake spoke again. "How are you going to manage this upcoming quest with Jason and Piper?"he asked.

Leo shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I'll find some way of managing it."

"Well, if you need to talk or whatever, then you can always shot me an Iris Message. I'm here for you."

That was the first time that Jake had ever said that. That any of the Hephaestus kids had ever said that. It made Leo smile faintly. "Good to know."

**And now. Sleep. I had an early awakening this morning. I plan on sleeping for the next twelve, thirteen hours. It's summer, I can get away with it.**

**By the way, my fellow demigods..June 22, wear Orange or Purple to symbolize your status as a demigod.**

**Also, I'm curious. Those of you who know and read this..who's your godly parent?**

**Mine's Hermes.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Meh, I got nothing done on my other stories. I tried. I'm still working on them. But, here's this, anyways.**

**Enjoy.**

Jake could tell that Leo wasn't keen on finishing the _Argo II_ because that meant the quest was about to get started, but he also knew that Leo would finish soon. It never failed. If Leo had some sort of invention going, even if he didn't look forward to finishing it for some reason, it was done well before the time the other Hephaestus kids thought it would be. And since Leo had Annabeth and Nico, as well as the other Hephaestus kids helping him with the ship...well, yeah, it would be done soon. Leo had kind of waved everyone else off, and they let him manage on his own after that. They knew he wanted to be alone for a while before it was done and he was stuck with Jason and Piper again. Jake was kind of hesitant to let Leo go on the quest now, because really, this was _too_ much for his younger brother to handle and he could sense a breakdown coming on soon with how stressed he'd been recently. The kid never got a break!

But Jake said nothing. He let Leo work as long as he wanted, he let Leo have the space he had asked for by avoiding words with the others, even when they asked him questions. But he let Leo know that he was willing to listen if he was needed.

As such, when Leo came in late, around one in the morning, looking like hell and like he just wanted to curl up in a ball and _die_, the other Hephaestus kids gave him a concerned look, but left it to Jake.

"It's done. We set sail in two days."Leo said before he let the toolbelt fall to the floor by his bed. He quickly cleaned the grease and stuff off him and collapsed on his bunk.

Jake frowned and sat down beside his brother. The others went about their own business, allowing the two to speak privately. "You okay?"

Leo looked at Jake before he sighed. "I will be."he answered. "As soon as this stupid quest is over and I forget all this ever happened."

Jake let that statement sit in the silence for a moment. "Just promise me one thing, Leo."

Leo gave him a questioning look.

"Don't forget to keep us updated - IM us if you need to talk about anything, and for the gods sakes please don't scare us with near misses on this quest."Jake said. "You're too important to us to lose."

Leo didn't respond to that, making Jake worry quite a bit.

It took a while, but Leo finally spoke again. "Yeah, sure."he said softly. "If I get a break from keeping the others from killing each other in some way, I'll manage to IM you guys to keep you updated on the quest."

Jake grinned. "And I mean it, if Jason and Piper start up while you guys are on that quest, you let me know. I'll have a word with them about it as soon as possible."

Leo gave Jake a lopsided smile and sat up, giving him a tight hug, surprising Jake quite a bit.

"Thank you, Jake."

Nyssa looked over at the two. "Now..if you two are done with your brotherly moment...may we all call it a night. We _do_ still have to get up early."

No one objected to that idea.

Still, the following morning, Nyssa got up to see Leo curled up against Jake and half smiled.

After her and the others were ready, she set about waking Leo and Jake up.

As soon as Jake was awake, she spoke. "Another nightmare?"she asked.

"Memory turned nightmare, more like, from what he told me."Jake answered. "You guys go ahead. I'll get him up."

Nyssa nodded, but gave Leo a concerned look.

Still, she left with the others and let Jake get Leo out of bed.

Admittedly, when the other Hephaestus kids saw Leo at breakfast that morning, they were all concerned for him. It was weird, seeing the hyperactive boy being calm again. He seemed exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

Nico had disappeared the previous night, Jake noticed after a quick scan of the Mess Hall. Annabeth was looking about ready to go on that quest. And Jason and Piper both looked like they both wanted to try apologizing again.

But they met Jake's eyes when he looked at them and they got the meaning. _Don't even think about it._

Leo was pretty okay that morning until he almost fell asleep at the table. At that point, Nyssa shook her head. "You are so not going to the forges today, Leo. You're going back to the cabin and getting some rest. We can't have you half dead on your feet when you leave on the quest. It'd only make you leaving worse."

Leo nodded that he understood and immediately got up, disappearing.

It was at that point that Will stopped by on his way out to get started at the Infirmary. He stared after the fire-handler before he looked at the other Hephaestus kids. "Everything okay with the kid?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Everything _will_ be okay with him. Once that stupid quest is over. After that...we all get to forget this ever happened and move on."

Will nodded. "Good luck with keeping that idea fresh in your mind, Jake."he said. "And let him fight his own battles when it comes to Piper and Jason. I can see how annoyed he gets when you start playing overprotective big brother. He's going to put you in the infirmary one day, and I am not going to patch you up when it happens."

Jake smiled fainlty. "Got it. Now get going before you get into trouble for being late to get there. Again."

Will rolled his eyes. "I mean it, relax before you have a heart attack or something."

"We got it, Will."Nyssa said. "We'll keep an eye on Jake and on Leo. Let's see who makes it the longest without a hospital trip, right?"

Will nodded and let it drop.

It was normal for them. They always interacted like that.

It never bothered anyone else. The entire camp found it highly amusing how Will interacted with the Hephaestus kids, who were usually the ones seen most commonly inside of the infirmary.

Nyssa looked at Jake. "Now. You go check in on Leo before you come into the forges. We don't need to leave him completely alone, after all."

Jake nodded and got up, disappearing to go check up on Leo. He didn't question why Nyssa had asked him to do so. He just knew that he was family, and you just don't abandon family.

**It is now six in the morning. I finished this after an episode of Doctor Who, which I just started watching. And yes, I am dead on my feet. **

**Meh..sleep...must sleep.**


End file.
